Angela Bethany Goethals (/ˈɡoʊθəlz/ GOH-thəlz;) is an American former film, television and stage actress. Goethals made her acting debut as a child actor in the 1987 Broadway production of Coastal Disturbances, and was 14-years-old when she won the Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress, for her portrayal of Edna Arkins in the 1991 Off-Broadway production of The Good Times Are Killing Me. She played the sister of Macaulay Culkin's character in Home Alone (1990), and went on to star in several independent films and television shows, including the title role on the short-lived sitcom Phenom (1993), as well as a small role in Jerry Maguire (1996).
In 1999, Goethals graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in French before returning to acting. In 2005, she landed a recurring guest appearance on 24, and also gained recognition and critical acclaim for her starring role in the black comedy horror mockumentary Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006). Her last appearance was in the 2018 short film, P.T.A-Holes.
Goethals was born and raised in New York City, the daughter of Rosalind, a teacher who raised Angela and her sister Sara. She is a great-great-granddaughter of George Washington Goethals, the chief engineer of the Panama Canal, and namesake of New York's Goethals Bridge.
She was a cheerleader at Stuyvesant High School and was introduced to the acting world by actress Jeanie Hackett, a family friend, who took her to several auditions. In 1986, at the age of nine, she got her first professional acting job, as the understudy to Sarah Michelle Gellar in The Widow Claire,[1] an off-Broadway play written by Horton Foote.[2] Two years later [when?] Goethals appeared as the daughter of Edwin Booth, portrayed by David Strathairn, in a workshop production of Booth: A House Divided, at The Players, New York City.
Goethals' first movie role was in Rocket Gibraltar in 1988. Her sister Sara also had a small part. Later that same year, she appeared in Heartbreak Hotel, a film about the fictional kidnapping of Elvis Presley.
Goethals's first starring role came in the 1993 TV series Phenom. She played Angela Doolan, a young tennis player struggling with the challenges of life. It ran for 22 episodes before being cancelled by network ABC in May 1994.
In 1990, Goethals played Linnie, the sister of main character Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin), in Home Alone. Goethals was one of only three main cast members not to return in the sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, two years later. She appeared in 1996's Jerry Maguire, playing Kathy Sanders, Jerry's client who fakes tears when he calls her to inform her of his departure from the agency.
In 1999, Goethals graduated from the private liberal arts college, Vassar, with a bachelor's degree in French, in which she is fluent, and she rode in the IHSA Zone II Region 1 at the Advanced Walk-Trot-Canter level. In February 2002, she moved back to Los Angeles to pursue film and television. That year, she starred as Polly in Comedy Central's first original movie, Porn 'n Chicken.[3] named for the club at Yale University that made headlines in 2001 when members announced plans to make their own porn film.[4] Later in 2002, she starred in the 1980s based sitcom Do Over, playing the sister of the lead character who is catapulted back in time to 1981. Between 2003 and 2004, Goethals made guest appearances on single episodes Boston Public, Six Feet Under and Without a Trace, as well as playing a minor role in the Adam Sandler romantic comedy, Spanglish.
In 2005, Goethals made a recurring guest appearance on the TV show 24. She played Maya Driscoll, the mentally ill daughter of then Director of CTU Los Angeles, Erin Driscoll. She went on to make guest appearances on Grey's Anatomy, CSI, and Crossing Jordan.
In 1991, she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award, and won the Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress, for her portrayal of Edna Arkins in the Off-Broadway production, The Good Times Are Killing Me.[2][5]
She was nominated four times to a Young Artist Award at the Young Artist Awards: in 1989 for Best Young Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Fantasy for Heartbreak Hotel (1988), in 1991 for Best Young Actress Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for Home Alone (1990), in 1992 for Best Young Actress Starring in a Motion Picture for V.I. Warshawski (1991) and in 1994 for Youth Actress Leading Role in a Television Series for Phenom (1993).
10.13.2002 COMEDY CENTRAL's premieres the network's first original movie, "Porn 'n Chicken." Based on the true story of Yale's Porn 'n Chicken Club…